Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We have had some luck in the garden this year, specially with spinach and lettuce. We harvested 3 bowls of salad so far and I see some more to come. This salad mostly has spinach and miner's lettuce, the latter was introduced by a local nursery who specialize in california native plants. Here is how I like my salad,

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Tofu Kofta is the healthier version of Malai Kofta. To cut down on the calories I have substituted paneer(cottage cheese) with tofu, we love this version and dont feel too guilty indulging in these koftas. The recipe involves tofu, firmness level 4. I am a big fan of Costco tofu and I have raved about it in an earlier post, Tofu Tikka Masala

The tofu has to be completely dry, so squeeze out all the water from the tofu. Crumble the tofu with your fingers into crumbs.Now mix all the kofta ingredients together and make ping pong sized balls with wet palms so that it dosent get too sticky and messy when kneading them into balls.For the batter, mix the flour and water into a thick consistency(like batata wada batter). Dip the the kofta balls in this batter and fry each until golden brown.

Gravy Method:

Blend the tomatoes, chilies, onions and ginger garlic paste into a puree. Heat the oil in a deep dish,temper with cumin seeds followed by chili and turmeric powder. Next add the puree and cook for a few minutes. Mix corn starch into yogurt taking care not to leave any lumps and pour it into the puree, add water to get the desired gravy thickness. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Mix in garam masala and salt. As soon as it comes to a boil add tofu kofta balls and take off heat.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Paav Bhaji is a very popular street side food in Mumbai, its a medley of vegetables(bhaji) cooked together and spiced with a special masala, called Paav Bhaji masala. Its garnished with finely chopped onions, cilantro and some fresh lime. Served with lightly buttered and toasted hamburger buns(paav)

Pressure cook the florets, peas and potatoes together, until done(usually takes 2- 3 whistles). In a deep pan heat a little oil and sauté the bell pepper followed by ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder and chili powder. Add the tomato puree and let it cook for a few minutes. Next add all the cooked vegetables, salt, butter and the paav bhaji masala. Mash the vegetables in the pan if you see any vegetable chunks, so tha it starts looking like a homogeneous mixture. Check the consistency if its too thick you could add some water at this point. Let the mixture come to a boil on medium heat for about 15 minutes.

In a bowl ladle some paav bhaji and garnish with onion, cilantro and a few drops of lime juice. Serve along side toasted and buttered hamburger buns. Enjoy! :)

Friday, February 17, 2012

So I ended up getting a spinach bag from Costco and like all other things it was a jumbo pack(I love the part that it is pre-washed). And since then I have been trying out all the spinach recipes that I know of to get to it before they go bad. We had spinach-tofu curry, spinach salad, omelet with spinach filling and spinach curry in yogurt sauce.

This recipe is for a yogurt based spinach curry, in India its also called Palak(= Spinach) Kadi(=Yogurt based curry).

Method:In a deep pan heat oil and the chilies followed by cumin seeds, turmeric and coriander powder, saute it for a minute. Add peanuts and spinach and let the spinach cook on medium heat.In the meanwhile mix besan in yogurt completely so that there are no lumps. When the spinach has wilted add the yogurt mixture and sugar. Bring the curry to a boil on a low flame.Serve hot with rice, you could also enjoy it as a soup.

Method:1. In a saucepan saute onion in oil, and when its translucent, add tomatoes and sautee until its mushy2. Add all the spices, cashew powder and salt3. Add all the vegetables, a little water and cook covered until all the vegetables are done.4. Turn off heat and garnish with kasuri methi.

About Me

I enjoy cooking, to this end I read cookbooks and blogs, watch food network, dissect the dish in front of me when we dine out. My experiments in the kitchen have its fair share of failures but the ones that leave us licking our fingers, make it here.